Wu Kingdom, Jianye.
"I have come on the orders of the General Who Guards the East, wishing to purchase grain and supplies from Wu Kingdom..."
The ministers stood on either side, while the young emperor Sun Liang sat above them.
Sun Liang was a year younger than Cao Mao.
His current circumstances were little better than Cao Mao's. A powerful minister likewise held sway, while he himself had no power whatsoever. The difference was that he could attend court, though he had no say in anything and could only sit above them like an ornament.
Sun Liang was handsome and possessed considerable kingly dignity.
Seated above them, he certainly looked the part.
In truth, Sun Liang had had no right to inherit the throne. Sun Quan's crown prince Sun Deng had died young, so Sun Quan had appointed the more favored Sun He as crown prince. But Sun He and Sun Ba had fought over the succession, stirring up an enormous political storm that implicated every civil and military official at court.
At that point, Sun Quan himself had essentially been half mad. He had simply executed Sun Ba, deposed Sun He, and appointed his youngest son Sun Liang as emperor.
Two years earlier, Sun Quan had passed away, and Sun Liang had formally become emperor of Wu Kingdom.
Yet this emperor had no real power at all. He had finally seen Zhuge Ke off, only to welcome Sun Jun.
Historically, this emperor had met the same tragic fate as Cao Mao: first deposed by a powerful minister, then poisoned, dying at only eighteen.
Sun Liang looked at the envoy in the distance, but his gaze shifted toward the tall, imposing man nearby.
A trace of desolation flickered in his eyes.
How could I get rid of this wretch?
And